Land Yacht

[rfrance0718]

I originally finished this build 2 years ago. In that time I've made some upgrades and have found some issues with my construction, but nothing fatal. One issue has been getting it into and out of the truck bed. I had estimated that the camper would weigh about 550 lbs and carry another 100 lbs of stuff. It turned out that it actually weighs 800 lbs all up, and moving and lifting is harder than I planned on. I need the camper to sit on a rolling base when it's off of the truck because it needs to be kept in the garage (HOA) but has to be loaded and unloaded in the driveway (height). My base is a  a 5ft by 6 ft frame with casters.

To get the camper up on the truck, I have settled on a new system. I've built an additional 10 ft frame that I can attach to the cradle, leaving 7 feet protruding forward. The basic concept is to get the front end of that frame onto the truck bumper and use block and tackle to pull it up the incline. I pull the camper up so that it is just about teetering over the bed and then I lift up the back end of the cradle and slide the camper all the way into the bed.

Yesterday I accomplished all in about 45 minutes. I'm happy with that, as it originally took me more than 3 hours to get it done.

Hoping to go skiing in Pa. tomorrow but I've developed a sore knee.

You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.[attach
id=6676]camp4.jpg[/attach]You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.

[Doug SC]

A fine use of the basic principles of physics! That took a bit of thought over time I expect. 

[Norm L.]

I have gone through those photos 4 times. Amazing construction and lifting steps.

[noelH]

+1 regarding Amazing.  45 minutes is not bad.  Vela weight is also ~800 pounds.  Somedays it takes me 45 minutes to launch Vela from parked on the trailer at the marina into the water.

[rfrance0718]

Thanks Norm. Not brilliant, just screw up and revise, but happy that age has taught me to use that strategy.